The Musings of a Writer, Photographer, Mother, and Survivor

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Hurdles

The truth is, I’ve never been much of a hurdle jumper. Back in my school days, I always failed that part in gym class. Run for a while, jump the hurdle, keep going. I recall stopping, looking at that hurdle and turning around. The 5 girls who went before me either fell flat on their face or banged their shins on the thing and were whining about how badly it hurt. I failed hurdle jumping as a youngster, because I didn’t see the point and I didn’t want to end up injuring myself in the process.

Even now, as I’m running through life, a hurdle pops up and I come to a screeching halt. I look at the hurdle for an extraordinarily long time. I analyze it. I decide if it’s worth getting hurt to jump over it, and more times than none, I end up just turning around and dejectedly walking home. Then when I get home, I begin the process of wondering if I was supposed to jump over it, or find a new way to climb it.

Life is full of metaphors like this. Now, I don’t literally pass up every hurdle put in front of me. I’ve been through so much that forces me to jump or plow down the hurdles with gusto. I don’t give up on every situation I find myself in. I think we all have moments in life where we look at that hurdle and have to weigh if it’s worth jumping over or if it’s worth passing by. The difference, it seems, lies in whether a person goes back to the starting point or just keeps on running, pretending as if the hurdles don’t exist. It also seems that as we get older, the hurdles get bigger, more significant, most especially if we’ve not taken the chance to get over them when we’re younger.

Jumping hurdles makes you stronger, but learning how to climb them in a different way, or knowing which ones to simply pass by, is a sign of intelligence. I’m working hard to be a successful freelance writer. The process is maddening. My fellow writer friends out there know exactly what I’m talking about. In this case, the hurdles I’ve been facing, are worth learning to climb over, learning to jump all over again.

I’m facing obstacles I didn’t expect. This time, though, instead of giving up, I’m fighting harder to win, because in the end, the juice is worth the squeeze, the dinged up shins are worth what comes next, and falling on my face is inevitable to achieve that accomplishment, which is victory in crossing the finish line. That success is what is driving me. I can see the finish line and I plan on getting there. Hurdles and all.

Photo of the day: When the sky’s the limit…

Even the sky is only a limit if you let it be…

Song of the day: The Climb… inspiration

Think about what hurdles are standing in your way. Are they worth climbing, passing by, or are you going back home to consider them?